Filing dilemma

Commercial software required to file partnership return online

The taxpayer traded as a partnership with his daughter. He submitted the 2011-12 partnership return on paper in February 2013. HMRC issued a penalty because it should have been filed by 31 October 2012. The taxpayer appealed. He said HMRC’s statement on the front of the paper return that ‘you will need to use commercial software that you may have to buy’ (emphasis added) is misleading. It suggested that commercial software was available that a taxpayer may not have to buy so the use of word ‘may’ was ambiguous. Relying on that the taxpayer did not investigate the software options until 31 October. He then discovered that he would have to buy a package that he could not afford. Neither did he wish to incur the cost so he decided to file a paper return.

The First-tier Tribunal agreed that the...